First-gen students, families, find camaraderie at Cornell
By Laura Gallup, Student and Campus Life
When Durjoy Bhadra ’29 arrived on campus for his first year at Cornell, he worried that the Ivy League institution might be too big and prestigious for him to ever really feel at home.
“Not many people from my neighborhood or community go to these sorts of schools,” said Bhadra, a global development major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “I was afraid that I would be initially alone, and there would be no one like me, no one who shared my previous experiences growing up.”
But that changed, after Bhadra participated in First at Cornell, an all-expenses paid pre-orientation program that aims to ease the transition to college for first-generation students and their families. Bhadra was one of 40 students who attended First at Cornell Aug. 14-17, with sessions on campus and at Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Cortland, New York. The program included sessions on campus for their parents and families Aug. 16-17.